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Sharks CEO John Smit has confirmed at least one senior player departure, revealing to The Witness that Willem Alberts will indeed move to Paris to join Stade Francais later in the year.

Alberts, whose last few years at the Sharks have been blighted by injury, has only represented the team in a handful of Super Rugby (and even fewer Currie Cup) matches of late and while a popular and influential figure when fit and on song, nonetheless starts to look like a rather expensive luxury give his injury record. With Jean Deysel and Jacques Potgieter both available to the Sharks for at least the next two Super Rugby seasons, the decision to let “Big Vic” go is understandable, even though we as fans will miss him dearly.

Smit also revealed that the du Plessis brother have not yet signed extension deals, saying “We did make them two offers earlier in the year but they have not responded, so I guess that tells a story.” With press speculation in France again rife that the pair will head to Montpellier, despite long-standing differences with new coach Jake White, it appears that the Sharks are resigned to losing the pair. It’s not clear if there are any other teams in the running for their signatures, or if it’s a straight choice between Durban and Montpellier.

In better news, Cobus Reinach has signed a new two-year deal, meaning like Pat Lambie, he’ll be available for the Sharks until at least the end of 2017. Smit remains confident that both Marcell Coetzee and Beast Mtawarira will also commit their immediate futures to Durban.

58 Comments

Not completely unexpected, but still a loss. Guessing the acquisition of Potties is probably a straight swop then. Will be a huge blow if we lose the Dup’s as well. Hoping Marcell and Piet-Steph signs again soon!

Comment 1, posted at 25.05.15 11:31:04 by Another Nick

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Not a huge loss with Alberts going, he really struggles to stay fit and at the moment is just holding a place that a promising youngster could fill. Yes when fit Alberts is good, its just the ‘when fit’ thats a problem. Marcel Coetzee would be a big loss…think he waiting to see if he in RWC frame

Comment 2, posted at 25.05.15 11:34:28 by SheldonK

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apparently “wants to stay”?

Comment 3, posted at 25.05.15 11:34:50 by Uli Boelie

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Pretty surprised about the Beast and Steyn news actually. Thought Beast would be definitely moving on, and I thought Steyn would go to France. Bloody good news if they sign again! Marcell will definitely stey!

Comment 4, posted at 25.05.15 11:35:48 by Dragnipur

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I want everyone under the age of 30 to stay. If Deysel Kanko an JPP stays it would be a bonus, but we seriously need to keep a hold of Marcell and PSDT.

Comment 11, posted at 25.05.15 12:03:27 by Letgo

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@Another Nick (Comment 10) : Maybe I’m over confident, but I can’t see Lambie leaving the Sharks…can’t see him needing to run after money as it seems he comes from a very well off family.

So he’s in my future Sharks team for the next 8 years at least.

Comment 12, posted at 25.05.15 12:08:20 by FireTheLooser

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@FireTheLooser (Comment 12) : Well stranger things have happened, but I get what you’re saying. And I like it! Pat, if you are reading this.. you’re not going anywhere boet!

Comment 13, posted at 25.05.15 12:12:39 by Another Nick

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It would be hard to replace Bissie, Jannie, Willem, Steyn, Kanko and JPP all at once. They’ve been a massive part of Sharks rugby the last 10 years. I hope some of them stay.

But fact is, they are all 30 or pushing 30 and the Sharks will do good to start looking at young prospects to replace them, regardless of whether they are staying or going.

Odwa, Deysel, Beast, Botha, Stevens, Mvovo (even Jacques Potgietet) Wentzel… These are all guys that are or will be 30 next year. Our squad needs some balance. The guys that may leave are hopefully guys that have done their part for the Sharks already and though I will miss them all, I think an exciting time lies ahead with some forced rebuilding about to start.

Comment 14, posted at 25.05.15 12:14:02 by Letgo

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Will be sad to see Alberts leave but he’s been a servant to the Sharks putting his body on the line whenever he’s on the field. Wish him the best of luck, will miss the Bone Collector running out in the Black and White.

Comment 19, posted at 25.05.15 13:35:19 by vanmartin

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Wishing you all the Best Willem. One of my favourite Sharks of all time.

Comment 20, posted at 25.05.15 13:46:18 by StevieS

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I wonder how a Top French team pay top dollar to sign an A class player like Willem,when one look at his recent record will tell you that this guy’s body is gone.
He obviously is going for a huge sum of money,so Stade could afford to hire any player in the world,so why him.
You would think they would go for guys like Jaco Kriel,Whitely Tekklenburg ,that young blond Bulls player that looks like Patrica Lewis,or Marcel,some one who will give you a full season of games.
I have always had a huge amount of admiration for Willem,but would have thought he would have finished up here,coming off the bench for 20 minutes.

Comment 21, posted at 25.05.15 14:05:23 by The hound

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@vanmartin (Comment 19) : Agreed – I will definitely miss The Bone Collector playing for the Sharks. All of the best to Willem.
Will be interesting to see who goes and who stays in the Sharks squad.

Comment 22, posted at 25.05.15 14:07:04 by RedSharkUtd82

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I am happy for Big Vic however, I am ecstatic that the Beast has decided to renege on leaving the Sharks. I was under the impression he was gone for good

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@Zibbie (Comment 26) : Very expensive P.R. stunt,kinda reminds me of a few seasons ago when the Force hired Andre Pretorious,He got hurt in the season warm up game and never played again for the whole season.
Kinda like the use we got out of Kanko and Deysel this season.

Comment 27, posted at 25.05.15 14:58:14 by The hound

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@The hound (Comment 21) : “…blonde Bull that looks like Patricia Lewis…” I do believe you have just made my day with that observation!

Comment 28, posted at 25.05.15 15:10:46 by Culling Song

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@Letgo (Comment 14) : That is why Smit must not be shy to use the cheque book effectively.

Comment 29, posted at 25.05.15 15:10:48 by GreatSharksays

@The hound (Comment 27) : like you said . they have the money to do it . so why not

Comment 30, posted at 25.05.15 15:14:32 by Zibbie

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@pastorshark (Comment 33) : He will turn 30 next year after the Super Rugby season though…

Comment 34, posted at 25.05.15 18:50:50 by pastorshark

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@pastorshark (Comment 34) : Yip… he’ll be one of the experienced guys. We need that too.

Comment 35, posted at 25.05.15 22:45:34 by Letgo

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@GreatSharksays (Comment 18) : At their best, still some of the best around. Makes me sad to think these guys won’t be around for long anymore. They have been great servants to Sharks rugby. I hope we still have one or two of them around to guide the relatively inexperienced SR group we might have to rely on next year.

Comment 36, posted at 25.05.15 22:48:56 by Letgo

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Happy belated birthday to Lionel Cronje. Wishing you all the blessings. May the good Lord allow you to grow and fully maximise your talent.

Comment 37, posted at 26.05.15 02:22:13 by GreatSharksays

Good luck to the “Bone Collector”. Thanks for the memories and all those massive hits.

Comment 38, posted at 26.05.15 08:34:03 by Farlington

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I wonder how much Cronje’s sudden finding of form has to do with Ungerer, ’cause most of our fh’s looked dog poo poor standing next to Reinach (and Hofman)

…I’d love to see a Lambie/Ungerer combo – our backline will miraculously appear well coached.

Comment 39, posted at 26.05.15 08:40:20 by FireTheLooser

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I must also add, since the CC last year Cronje has actually started to impress me. He is a good player.

Comment 40, posted at 26.05.15 09:20:22 by Uli Boelie

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@Uli Boelie (Comment 40) : Fred used to be a good player too, until he was joined up with Reinach…

I also think Cronje is a good player, but he has been looking sublime since him and Ungerer joined forces….which is why I think Lambie will be simply awesome next to Ungerer – as Ungerer excels in his primary role, which is to be be a scrumhalf.

Reinach on the other hand – plenty of x-factor, not a lot of scrumhalf though.

Comment 41, posted at 26.05.15 09:35:40 by FireTheLooser

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@FireTheLooser (Comment 41) : “…plenty of X-factor, not a lot of scrumhalf…” Perhaps we should consider turning him into a wing a la Hougaard…? In fact, a Reinach/Hougaard wing combo could be quite lethal!

Comment 42, posted at 26.05.15 09:46:49 by Culling Song

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@Culling Song (Comment 42) : Yeah, I’ve been buying into that idea of Reinach as a wing…our coaches on the other hand, well, not so much.

Comment 43, posted at 26.05.15 09:55:37 by FireTheLooser

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@Culling Song (Comment 42) : @FireTheLooser (Comment 43) : I think the biggest issue with him on the wing would be that hes not very tall. So they might bombard him with aerial bombs. He might however excel there, he will have allot of space and also be able to keep the ball all for him self when he gets it and be the HERO he wants to be.

Ungerer is definitely the way forward for the Sharks.

Comment 44, posted at 26.05.15 10:03:43 by Uli Boelie

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@FireTheLooser (Comment 43) : They’re probably too invested in the idea of JPP AS a centre to think any further…

Comment 45, posted at 26.05.15 10:05:06 by Culling Song

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@Uli Boelie (Comment 44) : Well, if the midget that is Kolbe works at fullback for the Streamers then I can’t see why Reinach would fail in any of the back three positions…he definitely has a ton more courage and ability on defense than Kolbe.

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@FireTheLooser (Comment 46) : also true hey. I still don’t like to have small back three, when we got JPP back in the day his size had made a huge difference to our department at the back.

Comment 47, posted at 26.05.15 10:35:42 by Uli Boelie

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@FireTheLooser (Comment 46) : You really need to get over your Plum infatuation, look at the log and then look at the amount of times that JPP was played at centre under his different coaches, and then look at the log again.

Comment 48, posted at 26.05.15 11:05:35 by Salmonoid the Subtle

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@FireTheLooser (Comment 43) : Do you think Reinarch is a better scrum half than Houghaard,or do you think Houghaard is a better wing than Reinarch.
Reinarch is probably quicker and a better tackler,so as I have been saying for a long long time try him on the wing.
We have nothing to lose except probably Ungerer who sure as shit is not going to stick around and warm the bench for much longer

Comment 49, posted at 26.05.15 11:15:26 by The hound

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@The hound (Comment 49) : If the Sharks have any idea of the way forward they need to play Ungerer. Reinach unfortunate is not the way forward for us.

Comment 50, posted at 26.05.15 11:20:43 by Uli Boelie

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Ungerer is the only way forward, heck he’ll make our backline coach look as though he knows something about coaching a backline.

@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 48) : I just remember Plum picking JPP at 13, and how woeful he turned out to be…so I give credit where it is due, and Plum was the originator of this sad experiment

Comment 51, posted at 26.05.15 13:29:35 by FireTheLooser

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Ungerer still has a looong way to go before I will go on about him like you are.

I like what I’ve seen so far and his decision making is sound, but his execution is still sometimes lacking. His passes are sometimes really bad. Bounce passes, over the head passes, behind the back passes. I suppose he gives up some accuracy because he tries to get the ball out quick, but he’ll need to sort that out.

Aside from that, yes, really good scrummy.

Comment 52, posted at 26.05.15 14:35:14 by Letgo

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@Letgo (Comment 52) : Ungerer is the best scrum half we have had since Kockert,but sadly I think Wright was better ,and we have already lost him,because Venter thinks Hoffman is a better bet.

Comment 54, posted at 26.05.15 15:18:59 by The hound

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According to Beeld Fred Zeilinga signed with the Cheetahs and will be available to them from the CC.

Comment 55, posted at 27.05.15 06:30:51 by Rvw

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Glad Frans wants to stay. He always makes a huge difference. Du Plessis brothers have been a crutch. While we will miss them I think it opens the door to building some decent depth at those positions. Willie Alberts is my favourite so regardless of the quantity of matches he played the quality has always been impeccable. Very sad to see Fred go, he had an off season but he will only improve. We need to ensure Cronje gets enough opportunity now. Ungerer will also need to stay out of Reinach ‘ s shadow. In my opinion he is better scrumhalf than Reinach who looks like he would enjoy wing more.

Comment 56, posted at 27.05.15 07:46:18 by coolfusion

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